Lost in the Bering Sea

Lost a kid I knew when he was about 4 this week in the Bering Sea. The boat he was fishing on disappeared with only a trace- the epirb and a life ring and some tarps. I still wonder why the life raft never showed. He grew up in Sand Point, where I worked my second job for ADFG. I was able to hire his mother, and she was the best hire I’ve ever made. She knew everyone and everything going on in town. She treated us like family and had us over for dinner often with her husband, daughter and son. Her son got into about as much trouble as a 4 year old in Sand Point can. She had another story about him most every day. One day he got the runs from eating green strawberries in their yard. Another day he threw up from eating a slug inside a salmonberry. He was a funny, happy kid. He apparently started commercial fishing at age 14. I watched youtube videos he made fishing with his crew for salmon near Sand Point and for crab in the Bering Sea. You could tell he was still a funny, happy kid that was raised by people who love him. 29 is too young, but it looked like a good 29.